Kaimana Pine

"A lot of people are just beginning to see all that Waianae has to offer," he says, before pointing out that the traditional rap against the West Side—that it’s too far from town and only serviced by one road—could also be seen as one of its biggest assets. "There’s nowhere else on O‘ahu that’s as remote as Waianae and still has a four-lane road leading into it. The North Shore? Only two lanes! Back in the ’60s and ’70s, there was a lot of organized crime out here—my dad told me it was pretty wild. But as far as how people see the place today, I’d say it’s getting better. More people are moving out this way, and a lot of people are finding out that, ‘Eh, Waianae isn’t what it used to be.’"

Meanwhile, over at the Aloha ‘Aina Cafe, business has been a little too good lately, if such a thing is possible. At least, it’s been busy enough that the four-person staff recently decided to shut the place down for a day to discuss ways to cut down on job stress and streamline service. Sitting in the cozy dining room, Kukui Maunakea-Forth, chef Kaleo "Bumper" Johnson, Chisa Dodge and Leihulu DeSoto take a break to recount the trials of opening a new restaurant with a skeleton staff ... and to discuss the benefits of working close to home.

"For most of my life after college, I ‘worked’ for free," says Kukui, referring to the many community-based initiatives she’s been involved with over the years. "This whole project has given me a job—I’m close to home and I’m working with other Hawaiians. I can hang with my own people, you know?"

"Everything around here’s been about hope," Bumper says with a laugh. "Hoping that we can do this, hoping that the paint job will work, hoping that the coffee machine will work."

"It’s also been blessed," begins Chisa, only to have her sentence finished by Leihulu: "Yeah, we’re blessed to be five minutes away from our house—my Jeep can handle that!"

More laughter, and then Kukui turns to Bumper and asks what she finds most rewarding about her current job.

"For two months, every day, I used to catch the 5 a.m. bus to get to Pearl City by eight," she replied. "You have all that time to wait, and then you get to work, and then you come back and start all over again.